Life such as are those raging Plagues Famines and Devastations which send many thousands early to the Grave We shall by this means not pass our days in his wrath An aged Christian that has been patient for many years comes at length like a Vessel richly laden home after a tedious and stormy Voyage full of reviving Experiences of the Divine Goodness from the Morning to the Noon and to the Evening of his Life Ps 71.17 18. He calls to mind with joy the various and admirable conduct of his Heavenly Father and sleeps in quiet on the lap of Providence Seeing with what beautiful Wisdom he had laid the soundation of his Happiness and carried on the Structure how he healed his Diseases and has safely brought him to the borders of a perfect cure How they were planted as Trees of Righteousness and by various Acts of Love and Power maintained in the Vineyard how they were in pain and how they were eased with his tender hand how they wept in agonies and how he wiped their tears away new support arises to the patient holy Soul Isa 40.31 It hastens our escape from trouble as the stilness and composure of any Person in a Fever tends to mitigate its force but a restless agitation of the Body does more and more inflame and fire the Blood By suffering we learn to suffer and patience reconciles us to the Cross Ps 27.14 No studied arguments no fine Sentences do so fortify the Soul in trouble as its own experience This is the Lenitive of anxious and unquiet thoughts gives a secret refreshing and a mighty strength this pours balm into those Wounds that otherwise might gangreen and fester when clog'd with outward infirmities and when there are the marks and signs of a falling habitation there will be the prospect of an house not made with hands and when death is in the windows there will be strength in the heart Reas 6. This patient waiting does most excellently prepare for the mercies waited for and gives them when they come the sweetest relish they are welcome as rest to weary Travellers that long to be at home When God and a waiting Soul meet together What transports and joys are there O he is come he is come that I long'd to see it revives me to hear his chearing Language to see his smiling face In what an extasie was Old Simeon whilst he embraced his Saviour many a long year had he waited for the blessed sight O happy eyes that saw that Sun begin his Race happy Arms that embraced and hugg'd so great a Treasure Luke 2.36 O what a joy to a Father to see a Prodigal returning home after he had long stayed and waited for his return With what Musick with what Joys with what Feasts does he solemnize such a pleasant day Thus 't is reported of Augustin's mother what a concern she had for her Son he was the daily Subject of her Prayers and Tears that St. Ambrose often when she mourned sent her away with this Answer That it was not possible that a Child of so many Prayers should perish No sooner was he Converted but her Spirit was at ease and she now desired no more He tells us in his Canfessions that when the day approacht that his Mother was to pass to a better Life as they were talking together of the joys of Heaven in the Conclusion of this Conference which was the most agreeable in all the World she said to me My Son I avow to you that as to what relates to my self that I have now no further hopes nor pleasure in this world I know not what I do here for I have nothing more to look for The only thing that made me desirous to live was to see thee a good Christian before my death now my good God has granted me so great a favour as to see thee become entirely his Servant by the contempt that thou hast of all the goods and pleasures of this Life Why then do I tarry here any longer Reas 7. It cures the frowardness of our spirits in our last sickness and makes death very happy and Heaven very sweet not an unbecoming thought nor word of God The Conclusion of such a serene Life is still and fair as the Evening of a Summers day Such an one is not pusht or hurryed out of the World but walks out as from one Room into another sleeps in death with the composure of an Infant sucking at its Mothers Breast they go by a smooth descent to death some without much pain tho' but rarely is that exemption from the assaults of the last Enemy granted Some are laid down very gently on their bed of dust and others with groans and sighs extinguish the dwindgling lamp of Life A patient Soul is ready and if God give the word it gladly flies away it longs and flutters to be gone and in the parting moment such an one shall not be left a Convoy of Angels shall wait upon it to see it safe through all the Regions of the Air where the Evil Spirits would dispute its passage to Glory Oh how welcome is Heaven to a troubled weary Soul How welcome are Hallelujah's to one that upon Earth heard the slanders and reproaches of many a bitter Tongue the Clouds of Life are then scattered and there succeeds an eternal day Then patience has no further work for there is no pain there hope is vanish't for the Good that was once desired is possest The calm of that quiet Region into which we enter after death will make amends for all the Storms we met with in the way thither How many Blessed Souls shall we meet that were in Storms as well as we that were sick and tempted and scorned and afflicted that had weak Bodies and fearful Spirits and to go thither from such a World as this from the Subburbs of Hell into the New Jerusalem Tho' we are in Tempests yet we are not to live upon the Sea Our Life may be very calamitous but 't is also very short Tho' loaded with bitter and uneasie griefs yet in Heaven there is no more sorrow for there is no sin there will be light in our Minds peace in our Consciences and comfort in our Hearts there will be no more fear in the place of Eternal Love no trembling doubting Soul in all the vast Assembly they cannot question whether they Love Christ or not when they are with him All their former suspicions are turned into pleasant wonder Isa 60.2 It s an Honour to be in Christ betimes an Honour to be Christ's Disciple and much more Honourable to be in his glorious Temple Oh Blessed are they that are at their Journeys end after having waited long for God he seeing they could find no durable rest below put out his hand and took them into his Ark above How can we almost forbear congratulating those happy Souls that have fought the good fight of faith and have got the Victory While we sin they
are absolutely pure they Rejoyce while we Mourn tho' thanks be to God we mourn in hope what we pray for they enjoy When we see these calm and patient Christians going to Heaven we say O our fathers our fathers the Horsmen of Israel and the Chariots thereof ye were our Defence and our Glory we can hardly forbear saying Oh that we were with you why have you left us behind but you were in Christ before us and are with him sooner you entered into the Vineyard sooner and so before us are rewarded we will indeavour to tread in your steps then you and we nay Jesus our dearest Jesus and we shall meet together I often think of that place Eccl. 4.1 2. because so many afflictions and miseries and judgments are the portion of the Living Blessed are they that sleep in the quiet Grave no more terrified with Dreams no more complain of restless Nights and of Months of Vanity no more do they hear the Confusions and Disorders of our World And to the quietness of our slumbers there nothing contributes more than patient waiting when we are alive How did Jacob bless his Sons before he dyed and how sweetly did he yield his Breath Gen. 49.3 O happy death to wait for God's Salvation and to see the Salvation that he waited for Salvation carries a very pleasant sound but the Salvation of a God is very great and glorious The hope of this sweetens the lives of the blessed Heirs of Heaven it pulls out the thorns of sickness and the sting of death it relieves their age it makes the Grave to lose its horrour it makes their Bed of dust very soft they live in motion and they rest in peace They exhaust their Spirits in the work of God but they never come to the dregs of Life for theirs is clear and pure to the very bottom Exhortations to those that have patiently watied on God even in Old Age. Reflect 1. How gracious he has been to you in giving you many years wherein to get Oyl and to trim your Lamps and to prepare for another World How many storms have you out-lived that made others sink Many many young People are gone to Judgment a great while ago while that Hand that crusht them has been very gentle and merciful to you You have survived the dangers and the sins and the giddiness of Youth and are now almost at our Journeys end 2. Endeavour to do good to others that have not had such experience of God as you Thus you bring forth fruit in old age and are fat and flourishing Ps 92.14 you do as it were grow young again with a vast accession to your Spiritual stature When you are full of patience and by your Example and your Words declare to others how faithful and how kind God has been to you So by teaching them knowledge you will rekindle and inflame your own Light whilst others younger then you decay you shall thrive and prosper He that planted you makes the green Tree to wither and the dry to grow You 'll not only go to Heaven fully ripe for Glory like a shock of Corn gathered in due season but there will be something for others to glean when you are gone And in the mean time Summer and Winter Youth and Old Age doe as it were meet in you the decays of one and the fruitfulness of the other In your Evening there is Light Zech. 8.4 5. Fortifie your selves with the Experiences of God goodness whenever your patience is like to tire as Polycarp said when he was urged by the Proconsul to deny Christ or to do something like it These fourscore and six Tears have I served Christ and he never did me any harm and how can I then blaspheme my Master and my Saviour Exhort others to fear and love and trust God as you have done by your Holy Awe and Reverence seek upon all occasions to Correct their Lightness and their Vanity You have served a good Master and you have had the Honour to serve him very long be not now weary of his work be not now for going out of his Vineyard when he that employed you is just coming to reward your diligence Be of good Courage The Lord is at hand O ye aged People bless the Lord your Preserver and daily sing his praise let your Winter as well as the Spring of Youth praise the Lord. How few have had that time for Heaven that you have had Oh the blessed Seasons and Days of Grace that you have had It 's a wonderful Honour to those that are old that they have so large a space wherein to do a World of Good to enlarge the Kingdom of Christ and to make their future Crown more weighty And none should grudge to labour for fourscore or an hundred Years when for so short a Duration of painful Diligence he shall have an Everlasting Recompence By living to old Age you have more Wisdom and Experience and Skill than others your Graver Years teach you to beware of several Rocks that they split upon And all these Mercies are heightned to such as arrive to an Healthful old Age not loaded with the usual Pains and Griefs and Languishing Motions of decaying Age for then the longer the Life the more the Misery Joshua 14.10 11. Thus Life does smoothly take its course without meeting with great Obstructions in the way and is not only Long but Happy too This was the peculiar Felicity of the Patriarchs before the Flood their Lives were extended to almost a thousand Years and yet we read of none of those Sad Symptoms attending them that attend us now at fourscore Psal 90.10 It 's a very comfortable thing to have neither a poor nor sickly Age neither to want Necessaries nor to be in Pain 'T is a Blessing to live to see your Posterity and a greater Joy to see them walking in the Truth Psal 128.6 but yet none can expect to be freed from the evil days mentioned Eccles 12.1 full of trembling Palsies grievous Aches lingering Pains and innumerable Evils but if you patiently wait on God and improve well your declining Years you 'll at length be satisfied with living as 't is said of Job Chap. 42.17 He died being old and full of days He rose as from a Feast not Surfeited but well pleased with the Joys and Plenty of his latter Days He was once indeed in another Frame when his Spirits were over-clouded with Melancholy and his Soul was burnt with Anguish when he had restless Pain by day and no sweet Sleep at night Chap. 7.4 then he wish'd for any sort of Death tho' Shameful and Untimely tho' Violent and Uncommon Verse 5 16. But this was more Job's Disease than his Grace 't was a most rash and hasty Wish to die in Terror and Anguish is a forlorn and doleful way of dying He eagerly thirsted for the Grave but at last he looked upon it with another Eye and went to it as a weary
The time will come when we shall wish to have had more Oyl in our Lamps and more Grace in store against an evil day when the Devil and his Temptations and Diseases and pale and dreadful Death with all his mourning Train of Evils will set upon us How shall we meet such Enemies without well-polisht Armour on What shall the Sick and the Lame and the Blind and the Decrip't do in the day of Battle Will not our little Faith be a most unkind and disingenious return to the great Love of Christ How unsuitably do these two look his Love in its strength and our Faith in its decay his Love in its flourishing perfection and our Faith withered and lyable to be extinguished almost with every little breath And our grief will be encreased from the time we had wherein to prepare for all the sorrows that might come upon us the leisure and the helps of many Years But if our Faith be strong we shall not be discouraged with the delays of God we shall trust him tho' he kill us and cast our Anchor in the dark we shall look to even an absent Saviour and wait for his Salvation when there is no deliverance within the Ken and View of Sense when all other resuge fails when all the Greatures cannot help us even in the most threatning and the last extremities when we see no light we shall cast our selves at the Power and Love of God Fourthly If you would patiently wait upon God in trouble you must have suitable promises to rely upon You have but small encouragement to wait if you have no promise that your waiting shall not be in vain We are not with vexatious labour to pain our selves by stretching our thoughts too much upon futurity or to plunge our selves into the unfathomable depths to know the secret decrees of God Our Eyes are too weak to read the Records of Heaven and they are far distant from our Sight But it is more easie and profitable to look into the Revelation that is made to conduct our lives both in Prosperity and in Trouble and in this Revelation there are abundance of very reviving Promises for the most trembling Soul to rely upon And all those are most sincerely true not like those of many Men in high Places who draw along such as wait upon them with large Promises most kind Looks and obliging Words but never think much of what they Promise and so make the poor Expector of Preferment at length to go away ashamed after having spent a deal of time and perhaps Money too to no purpose And so all they gain is a little bought Wit which alas they dearly bought with the Circulation of many torturing and unquiet Hopes But it often happens that they go away both with their Heads and their Purses empty But now they that wait upon the Lord shall not be ashamed of their hope Psal 34.5 Psal 25.3 they shall at length obtain what God hath promised and what they waited for Fifthly That you may patiently wait upon God remember how many kind experiences you have had of his love hitherto 2 Cor. 1.10 Without this Reflection you 'll be startled at your new Tryals But no Goliah with all his stalking Greatness and his big Words will make you quit the Field if you consider how God has often secured you from as near and as bulky dangers from the hissing Serpents that were swollen with Venom and ready to spit it all upon you and from the paw of the Lyon and the Bear But unless we call to mind the years of the right hand of the most High every present Storm will always seem the most blustering and every present pain the most sharp it will be a most unreasonable thing for us now to sink when we have been formerly delivered from as near and as great Calamities That arm that saved us once is not now shortned that it cannot save The sweet Experiences we have had of God should cause us to be assured that when we wait on him we do not wait in vain and no Evidence can give us so unshaken a certainty both of his Being and his Providence as those inward tasts and relishes of his Love This inward Sensation is extreamly quieting 't is a beam of Divine Light Nor can we by any troubles how long or how sharp soever be forced to quit our Religion and our Faith when we have once felt the joy and pleasure of them A good Man has Two Harvests every Year one from the Furrows of the Field and another from his own Thoughts Such efficacious Faith diffuses a vital warmth over every faculty and is no more to be separated from a Christian than he can be divorced from himself and keeps the pleased recreated Soul from being listless and indisposed from being chilled and frozen with excessive fear and anguish To have a Treasury of Experiences whereto to have recourse is the Priviledge of those that are arrived to a good old Age every year of their Pilgrimage they have had new Experiences of the kindness of their unerring Guide they can look back and see wonders of Mercy and Deliverance O! What a Catalogue of joyful passages offers its self to their Observation How often they were dying and God made them to recover how often they were sinking and afraid and he bid them be of good Courage It 's comfortable to old People to have a great deal of Money by them which they got in the Spring and Summer of their Active Life It supplies their wants makes their Attendants respectful and the decays of weary Age more tolerable when they cannot work for a livelihood as they used to do But O! How much more comfortable is it to be Rich in Faith such their good Master looks upon with a pitiful and watchful Eye He takes care of their weakness as all good People have a great kindness for an old Servant that has lived many years in their Family Very Honourable and Blessed is that Age that has been long faithful to God Besides Such as have been careful to remember their Experiences of his Mercies may plead them with hope in Prayer Judg. 15.18 Psal 77.7 Lord thou hast been my Father hitherto be not now my Enemy thou hast heretofore dealt graciously with me do not now overwhelm me with the weight of numerous and too great Afflictions In other distresses I have had thy Presence O be not now a stranger to me Sixthly That you may patiently wait on God maintain in your Spirits a great indifference to the things of this World that you may be prepared upon the first Summons to take your flight from it Regard without concern or too passionate Affection all that is dear to you in this Life and while you are on Earth let your Eye be on Heaven Cease to live to sin that you may not be torn from your Enjoyments but bid them farewel without a sigh by a continued progress in